1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to an improved data processing system. More particularly, the present invention provides a method and system for building queries and, still more particularly, a method and system for building queries using a drag and drop technique.
2. Description of Related Art
Many data processing systems take advantage of distributed processing by using a client/server architecture. In this architecture, the database is divided into two parts: a front-end or a client portion, and a back-end or a server portion. The client portion concentrates on requesting, processing, and presenting data managed by the server portion. The server portion runs server software and handles the functions required for concurrent, shared data access. Of course, the client-server architecture can be distributed across a network. For example, each of the client applications may be executed at a different node of the network, while one or more other nodes on the network are used for storing the database and executing the server software to process database requests sent by users at the client nodes.
To request data from a database, a client application may have a query written in any number of programming languages. One such language is the industry standard Structured Query Language(SQL) defined by the International Standards Organization (ISO). In response to executing the client application, the client will cause the server portion to perform the required operations on the information in the database.
Queries can be built manually from typing SQL commands or using graphical user interfaces (GUIs) to select conditions, their associated values and the logical expressions that form the query sequence. Once built, the query is run and the results of the query are returned so that a user can act upon the results. Typically queries are run in order to reduce a very large population of data down to a much smaller, or manageable population of data.
However, building queries from GUIs can be difficult and time consuming. Typically, the user has to understand the properties of the object such as an Internet Protocol (IP) address or a machine type, and then build a series of statements using logical operators such as AND, OR, NOT, and LIKE to reduce the query results to a manageable query results set. Typically, many end users of computer systems are not highly skilled in the art of programming and technical logic. The end user's main goal is to accomplish a task rather than to understand the underpinnings of an application or program. The more a design matches well-established principles of dragging and dropping and selecting highly recognizable attributes of objects, the higher the likelihood that the user will be able to understand and complete the task at hand. Therefore, the use of SQL logic to conduct a search is an abstract notion to many end users. The use of SQL logic often inserts itself between the steps of planning what objects the user is attempting to match and the steps of actually carrying out the search for those attributes. As a result, when an end user does not understand SQL, the end user is often forced to either run a simple search that may return too many objects or spend valuable time attempting to learn the aspects of a SQL search. There exists a need for allowing a user to build a query, not by having to enter SQL type commands or even to use GUI controls to build a query syntax, instead by a user being able to use a simpler and more efficient technique.
Therefore, it would be advantageous to have a method and system for building a query using a simple drag and drop technique.